A blog for getting on with life clean and sober ...and for learning what's going on in the world

Friday, April 7, 2017

April 7, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by StepFriday, April 7, 2017"Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers." - The Fifth Tradition

Today, ask if I am a positive contributor to my home group's mission as commanded in the Fifth Tradition, or if I fail and even bring dissension and division to my group. There is little to interpret in the Third Tradition that the only requirement of an individual member is "a desire to stop drinking." Carrying that into the Fifth Tradition, I need to work on any hidden prejudices against individuals to the point that I impose my own "requirements" on them. Have I ever been guilty of talking critically or gossiping about a member because of his gender, religion, socioeconomic class, sexual orientation or gone so far as to doubt or challenge his claim to length of sobriety or moral inventory? If I have, I have breached the Fifth Tradition and, in so doing, I have perverted the Steps and Traditions into something they are not intended to be. Today, I will work with and not against and do what is required - "carry (the) message to the alcoholic who still suffers." And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2017